Studio Equipment for the Home - Your Opinions, Please

At one point I used very long runs (around 50' still have 'em somewhere) of RG8U coax terminated with spade lugs on the solid core & braid. It was recommended by a pro amp manufacturer designer (for its electrical (low loss & impedance characteristics) + shielding) and it sounded really good.

The cable I used is identified as follows:

CSA CXC FTI LL83251 RG 8U 5009

This is very heavy cable!

Your local cable supplier/mfg can source an equivalent.

This is a very reasonable alternative to expensive speaker cable and it works!

 

I think I need to quote myself here.....

I'm glad to hear everyone's input on RCA jacks vs. XLR. I shot from the hip a little bit on this one, in that I have not directly compared a RCA then XLR side-by-side in an A/B comparison. I need to question my position on which connection I like more.

My one question is, why do microphone cables come almost exclusively with balanced XLR cable terminations?

Robert

 

Robert--since microphones are often low-output devices, and/or have very long cable runs, they are more susceptible to picking up noise.

 

Oh, I get it now. Thanks, Rudy.

So, a general rule of thumb is RCA connections for short runs of cable (under 25-50 ft), and XLR for longer?

One other question: are cables with 1/4 inch terminations considered balanced?

Thanks, Robert

 

Hi Robb,

You have it right with the XLR/RCA (over 25' go XLR).

1/4" terminations, like a guitar jack, are not considered balanced, they are basically operating on the same principle as the RCA's (2 post termination as opposed to XLR 3 post).

 

Thanks for the information, Dave. It's all making a lot more sense now.

So, on RCAs and 1/4 inch, the ground/negative is the middle pin on RCA or the front notch on a 1/4 inch, and on XLR the center bottom pin is ground, with the ground and negative on separate signal paths.

Cool.

 

Here are the thought of one of my audio dealers on the subject http://www.walrus.co.uk/tech/bal.htm

All the best - Andrew

 

I don't know if they've ever been used this way, but theoretically you could send a balanced signal using a 1/4" stereo phone plug. That would be three conductors--one ground, and two carrying the out of phase signal. (Ring/tip/sleeve?) If the signal is sent on two separate wires, each one out of phase, and they're "recombined" at the other end, they could be considered a "balanced" system.

 

The signal is on the centre pin on an RCA plug.

1/4 inch can be a balanced connection by the way, with + and - on tip and ring, and shield on the sleeve. You have probably seen this type of 1/4" plug on stereo headphones.

 

Saw your post after I posted mine

Yes, that is not uncommon in professional audio. I have an equalizer with in- and outputs configured that way, in addition to XLR connectors.

 

Pin 2 on most new XLR gear is hot. Some older gear has pin 3 as hot though so keep aware.

 

What about radio shack interconnects?

-Wes

 

I have A70's Series II and A60's Series II.

 

I have one pair of A60, the original series. Don't care for them--the high end isn't all that good. They use a cone tweeter and to me it sounds muffled. Series II started using the good mylar dome tweeter in the 60's. I'm watching eBay for the better tweeters--they turn up occasionally.